My first time

No, although I write steamy romances, this isn’t a post about my first sexual encounter.  You see, yesterday afternoon, I drove my youngest son to his first shift of his first job. It was tough because it means he’s growing up and soon will be independent enough to leave the nest, strong enough to fly under his own power.  Oh, that won’t be for a while yet, he’s got another year of high school left, and then hopefully college.

As the mother of two boys, there have been a lot of firsts – first time they smiled, first time they sat up unassisted, first tooth, first step, first word, first day of school, first date, first job …

So as I was driving home, I was rather sad thinking that now they’ve reached adulthood, a lot of those “first steps” will end.  Oh, there’ll be the “first apartment” followed (hopefully) by their “first house”, marriage (hopefully first and only), first child (hopefully not too soon, I’m not ready to be a grandma—yet).

Private Property, designed by Natalie Winters

Then I started thinking about my own life and realized that even though I’ve got two children who are adults, even though I thought I’d “been there and done that” and had nothing left to surprise me, I’m still experiencing firsts in my life. Just last year was the first time I submitted a manuscript to a publisher. Followed by my first sale—when I got “the email” from Angela James over at Samhain offering me a contract for my novella, Private Property; my first cover designed by the wonderful Natalie Winters; my first release – when Private Property was finally up for sale; my first royalty check; my first review; my first fan letter (that was a HUGE thrill. I love hearing from readers.)

Next year there will be another first – my first book in print, the second in the Hauberk Protection series, Personal Protection.   I hope to keep adding to the list but to do that I have to keep trying new things, pushing myself to put myself ‘out there.’

First agent is high on my list. First book signing is right up there too.

Where do I go from there? Who knows. The sky’s the limit. (Although first time skydiving is not high on my list, thank you.)

What are your favourite “firsts”? Do you have thing you’d like to try that you haven’t tried before?

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Private Property is available for sale from Samhain Publishing.  If you would like to read an excerpt of Private Property or learn more about Leah, go to Leah’s website or visit her blog – where you will find links to two free stories you can download.